Her name is Alice
by MyLadyDay
Summary: Adopting for the first time is never an easy task. AU, one-shot (possible two-shot) Title is a song by Shinedown.


**Another one-shot from another prompt: "Imagine your OTP adopting their first child. Person A wants a girl while person B wants a boy. How do they come to an agreement and if they adopt a child, how did they choose?" The prompt is from otppromts on tumblr, they have great stuff. Don't own One piece.**

Orphanages were never high on Zoros list of favourite places to visit, but this time was different. He and Sanji, after a long struggle, were finally adopting their first child. It was a bittersweet feeling, being in a building like that and knowing one of those kids will be going home with them. What Zoro didn't expect was another struggle, this time between him and his blonde; Zoro wanted to be a proud father of a son that he would teach kendo while Sanji wanted a little princess to spoil rotten. This was really a problem in itself, after all, they had their differences in any aspect of their life together, but they needed to decide soon.

"Come on, cook, you can't seriously tell me you never wanted a son." Zoro argued. He didn't really buy it. Every man wanted a son.

"I'm not a Neanderthal like you, Marimo, and I think we should have a lady in the house to make up for all the unnecessary testosterone." Sanji was calm and relaxed, but Zoro could see past that exterior. He held women on a high pedestal and having a daughter would make Sanji the most annoying man alive. She would have him wrapped around her little finger before she could even talk properly.

Zoro sighed. He knew any argument with Sanji was futile; he had a way of getting what he wanted from his marimo, but this time he had to win. Raising a boy was easy and he could see himself be a good father, but there was not telling how he would raise a girl. He didn't know a damn thing about them, other than the fact most of them were cunning and plain evil. At least the ones he knew. He didn't know what he would do, how he would act and if a girl would even like him. It was no secret that he was somewhat scary to grown people, let alone a small child.

They were standing in a hallway; they didn't even get to go in and meet any of the children because they started arguing and the social worker gave them some time to sort things out. Sanji was craving a cigarette by now, the issue of their childs gender tearing at his nerves. Neither of them thought of this topic until now. They were together for years and in the typical Zoro/Sanji fashion, a decision to adopt came as suddenly as their relationship started all that time ago. Amidst all those struggles to actually get the right to have a child, the question of whether it should be a boy or a girl never crossed either of their minds. The time for making a real decision was now and they were no closer to an answer than they were before.

"What's wrong with having a girl?" Sanji spoke after taking a deep breath.

Zoro was silent and avoided eye contact. Sanji could swear he saw a hint of a blush creeping on the marimos face. He said nothing as he waited for Zoros reply.

"I don't know how to act with girls." he spoke softly, voice barely above a whisper. It was an embarrassing thing to say. He was a great swordsman with no knowledge of the word fear and here he was, in the middle of an orphanage being afraid of adopting a girl. This brought a smile to Sanjis face; seeing his big strong scary partner blushing because he can't handle a little girl was a once in a lifetime sight.

"It's the same as boys, marimo. It's not a big deal." Sanji didn't really know how to explain it to the stubborn man. Whatever the child was, it would be theirs and they would love it. The marimo was just being cute with his insecure demeanour; Sanji knew he would be a great father, but he had to help him with his insecurities before they start a family. It was no secret Sanji wanted at least two kids. After all, he never had a real family or any siblings and he knew how lonely it could be, being an only child. Watching his blushing (and scowling) significant other, he decided that he could grant him his wish and agree on adopting a boy.

Sanji sighed and spoke "Okay."

Zoros head snapped up and he stared at the cook. He did mean what he thinks he did, right? They are adopting a boy? His mouth curved upwards a bit, enough for Sanji to tell how happy the other was.

"But the next one will be a girl and you can't say anything against it." Zoro was full on grinning at that point. This was really happening, they were having a son. Zoros grin made Sanji smile too; he was okay with this if it meant seeing the marimo this happy.

"Well, let's go find the social worker and do this." Zoro said, he was too happy to stand still. They started walking down the hall when they were interrupted by the sound of Beethovens fifth symphony coming from Sanjis pocket.

"Shit, it's the restaurant. You go find her and I'll try to keep this short." Zoro nodded and continued down the hall while Sanji answered his phone and made his way outside. He lit a cigarette while listening to his sous-chef rant about a late delivery of vegetables and something or another about fish. Usually, Sanji would listen intently because it was his restaurant, his dream and everything had to be perfect, but at the moment, starting a family was more important and he couldn't bring himself to care about whatever was wrong with the fish. He tried to end the conversation as quickly as possible, he'll be at the restaurant soon enough. The cigarette was finished quickly after he hung up and he stepped back into the building. Finding the marimo was an easy task, his green hair made him an obvious target.

The last thing Sanji expected to find, though, was the scene that he was observing through an open door. The marimo was sitting on the floor of a room with at least seven children, the social worker sat on the couch behind him while he had a small blonde girl in his lap. Sanji couldn't see her face, but it was obvious she was showing the marimo a doll or some other toy like that. The marimo was smiling and talking to her with his voice hushed, like it was just the two of them. The other kids weren't paying any attention to them and she seemed to be the only girl in the room. Sanji found it intriguing, how the marimo managed to take a liking to the only girl in the room when they finally decided on a boy. It brought a smile to the blondes face, watching a usually dangerous man sitting on the floor with the tiniest girl he'd ever seen and playing with her like he were a child himself.

Zoro could almost feel that he was being watched and turned his head towards the door, smile still in place. He could see his blonde observing and smiling at the scene before him. He was well aware that they argued only minutes ago and agreed that they would adopt a boy. Finding the social worker was easy and he told her that they decided on a boy under the age of five. She lead him to a room and brought a few boys with her only moments later. What he didn't expect was a tiny blonde girl with big dark eyes wearing the smallest blue dress he has ever seen. She followed the group of boys; she appeared very small, clutching a big white stuffed rabbit with her little pale arms. Zoro was immediately reminded of his own blonde, even though her hair was a paler color, but her eyes struck him the most; they were dark gray, almost like his own. She noticed him right away, but instead of being frightened like the boys were, she had a determined look on her face. Still clutching the rabbit, she walked toward him and looked into his eyes the best she could. After all, she barely reached his knees. He didn't know what to do, this was an unexpected turn of events and the social worker stepped outside for a moment to deal with something else.

The girl tugged at his pants and he lowered himself to the floor. She looked him right in the eyes and said "Will you be my daddy?". Her voice was as small as she was and equally gentle. In the privacy of his own mind, Zoro had to admit that she was adorable. He could understand why Sanji wanted a daughter. Looking around, he could see all the boys kept away from them and she was the only one brave enough to approach him. As brave as another blonde he knew.

"What's your name?" he asked, feeling himself melt a little as a result of the simple question she asked.

"Alice." she said.

"Aren't you afraid of me, Alice?" he asked, not really sure why, but he felt like he had to.

"Why would I be afraid?" the confused look she was giving him made him smile.

"No reason. You want to sit with me for a while?"

She nodded and to his surprise, sat on his knee with her feet on his boot. She was so tiny, he felt like he needed to protect her at any cost; he placed an arm behind her so she wouldn't fall from her seat. The social worker returned and sat on the couch behind him, watching them intently.

"What's your name?" she asked him, curiosity painted on her little face.

"Zoro. And who's your friend?" he patted her bunny between his ears.

"This is Sir Bun Bun. I think he likes you, too." she smiled and it made his heart melt. He turned his head and saw another blonde looking at him with a smile. Those two blondes were so similar, he knew they would be the death of him and he already knew that they were taking Alice home with them. Seems like Sanji won't be the only one wrapped around her little finger. Zoro sighed and turned to tell his decision to Sanji, who without a doubt knew it already.


End file.
